On Thursday, representatives from around 50 information technology (IT) businesses in Da Nang and Japan attended a workshop in the city on promoting IT cooperation between Da Nang and Japan.

Co-organised by the municipal Department of Information and Communications and the Viet Nam Software and IT Services Association (VINASA), the event was part of numerous activities to attract more investment into the city this year, especially into the local IT sector.

In his remarks at the event, municipal People’s Committee Vice Chairman Dang Viet Dung revealed that as of June this year there were over 160 Japanese firms operating in the city, including 65 IT ones.

He noted that many of them have built famous brand names in Da Nang, and Viet Nam as a whole, such as NeoLab, Nippon Seiki, Mabuchi Motor and Asian Tech. Japan is a major market for local software producers, and the city’s software export turnover accounts for 36% of the total of the local IT sector.

Vice Chairman Dung affirmed that the local authorities would exert every effort to create an open and fair investment environment for foreign investors, including those from Japan, as well as improve infrastructure at local IT parks in order to attract more both domestic and foreign businesses.

Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Information and Communications Le Son Phong introduced the participants to his city’s ‘e-government’ and ‘smarter city’ programmes, plus its incentive policies for IT businesses.

During the workshop, the attendees exchanged information on demands and capacity in IT training and adoption.

According to some Japanese participants, there is currently a growing tendency of Japanese businesses choosing Viet Nam as their outsourcing partner instead of China. In Viet Nam, Da Nang is highly appreciated by Japanese companies thanks to its highly-skilled human resources and their enthusiastic attitude towards work.